Obeservational records are made of teacher-student interaction and other activities in the classrooms of 240 children in each of grades 1 and 5 in Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. The study seeks (a) to ascertain similarities and differences in classroom behavior in three cultures and (b) to relate classroom behavior to children's level of achievement. Special attention is paid to children with reading disabilities. In addition, data are available for the children on tests of arithmetic, vocabulary, and general information; and a series of cognitive tasks, parent interviews, and teacher interviews also are available. The total project seeks to investigate the relation of orthography and experiential factors to children's reading achievement.